Winnie Ruth Judd served more time in prison than any other criminal in U.S history for the murder she may not have committed. Jana Bommersbach’s book “The Trunk Murderess: Winnie Ruth Judd” is among six books finalized for the 2010 OneBookAZ.
Much of the Winnie Ruth Judd’s personality and the history of crimes is still a mystery. The people who ever met the convict described her as beautiful and most hospitable woman they ever met. She never seemed to be a “tigress” or “vehement”or the “wolf woman” as press painted her.
As for the crime Winnie Ruth Judd was charged with the murder of Agnes LeRoi – her room mate on October 16, 1931 in an apartment in Phoenix – Arizona. She was also thought to have murdered the other women Hedvig Samuelson although she was never charged for it because of the lack of physical evidence. The reason being that all three women loved the same man – J.J Holloran. It is quite possible that the muders were undertaken by Holloran himself and Ruth was only a scapegoat who confessed the murders for her beloved.
Judd was sentenced to be hanged till death on 17th februaray, 1933. She escaped the term by posing to be a lunatic and her term was reversed and she was sent to Arizona State Mental Hospital. She managed to escape from the hospital seven times often for years. She was discharged from the hospital in 1971 and she died in 1998 at the age of ninety three.
Winnie Ruth Judd
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